US embassy cable - 04MAPUTO13

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 000013 
 
SIPDIS 
AIDAC 
PLEASE PASS USAID FOR AFR/SA, DCHA/OFDA, DCHA/FFP 
ROME FOR FODAG, NAIROBI FOR OFDA/ARO, NSC/WASH DC 
FOR JDWORKEN 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR, Natural Disasters 
SUBJECT: USAID/DCHA/OFDA ASSESSMENT VISIT TO 
MOZAMBIQUE 
 
REF: NONE 
 
Summary: 
USAID/OFDA Disaster Response and Mitigation Division 
Director and USAID/OFDA Principal Regional Advisor 
for Southern Africa visited Mozambique from 10 - 12 
December to meet with Embassy and USAID staff, UN 
agencies, NGO partners, and Government (GRM) 
disaster management officials to review the drought 
and food security situation affecting selected 
provinces in the south and center of the country. 
The team traveled to Gaza Province to observe food 
aid distributions and other programs in progress. 
The GRM developed a Contingency Plan that was put 
into place in 2002/03 in response to drought 
conditions, and this plan has been updated for the 
2003/04 season to respond to drought, floods, and 
cyclones, should any, or all, of these occur. The 
current drought and food security situation, while 
serious, seems to the OFDA team to be under control 
through a combination of food aid assistance through 
UN World Food Program (WFP), supported in large part 
by USAID Food For Peace (USAID/FFP), relevant UN 
agencies, a handful of other donors, a group of 
international and national NGOs, and GRM funds 
reprogrammed from the regular budget. Given a poor 
start to the 2003/04 crop season, USAID/Mozambique 
and USAID/OFDA will continue to monitor the 
situation to determine if additional humanitarian 
assistance, particularly non-food aid, is required. 
Extended Drought in the South and Center 
Mozambique is one of the six countries included in 
the UN's Regional Consolidated Appeal for Southern 
Africa in response to the complex food security 
crisis affecting the region. Drought and food 
insecurity has affected more than 40 districts in 
the provinces of Maputo, Gaza, and Inhambane in the 
southern part of the country, and Tete, Manica and 
Sofala provinces in the central region, resulting in 
two years of failed crop seasons. In some areas, 
these conditions followed several significant 
floods, the largest being in 2000 and 2001, 
resulting in up to three or four successive years of 
poor harvests. USAID/FFP was one of the first food 
aid donors to respond, this noted by GRM officials, 
and remains a significant contributor to WFP's 
emergency food aid program. Food aid distributions 
to drought-affected communities, combined with 
supplemental feeding to women and children, have 
largely stabilized the food intake situation, 
preventing the nutritional status from deteriorating 
to crisis levels. In anticipation of a near normal 
2003/04 crop season, GRM reprogrammed funds from its 
agricultural development budget to fund the (a) 
distribution/sale of seeds and agricultural inputs 
to affected communities through seed fairs; (b) 
multiplication of drought tolerant improved 
varieties of cassava and sweet potatoes, and (c) 
rehabilitation of small scale irrigation sites, 
linked to treadle pumps. 
Contingency Planning for 2003/04 
The team attended a presentation chaired by the 
Foreign Minister and the GRM disaster management 
office, the Instituto Nacional de Gestao das 
Calamidades (INGC), where the results of actions 
taken in 2002/03 were presented and the revised 
Contingency Plan for 2003/04 was outlined. The 
Contingency Plan takes account of the three primary 
natural hazards in Mozambique, droughts, floods, and 
tropical cyclones, and sets forth actions to be 
taken in the event that any, or all, of these occur. 
The GRM's first response will be to realign existing 
budget resources to provide assistance. Depending 
on the size and scope of the disaster, the GRM will 
then look to locally-based UN and NGO partners for 
assistance, before requesting aid from the 
international donor community. In the event of a 
large-scale disaster, or multiple disasters, it is 
likely that donor resources will be needed to 
complement GRM funds. The efforts being undertaken 
by the GRM to plan for recurrent natural disasters 
are widely appreciated by the UN and donor community 
and serve as the basis for further assistance, as 
required. 
Mitigation Programs underway 
The team traveled to Gaza Province, along with staff 
from WFP and UNICEF, and were hosted by Samaritan's 
Purse (SPIR), a U.S. PVO working with drought- 
affected communities. SPIR serves as an 
Implementing Partner for WFP and UNICEF managing 
food distribution activities. Food distribution is 
largely undertaken through community-identified 
food-for-work (FFW) programs, and the team visited 
three activities underway. Under the technical 
management of the District Department of 
Agriculture, one community is developing a 
multiplication/propagation center where improved 
cassava and sweet potatoes are being intensively 
grown under irrigation. This center is producing 
planting materials that will be distributed to 
neighboring communities, serving to provide a more 
diverse, and drought-tolerant crop suited to farms 
in drought prone areas. Additional 
multiplication/propagation centers are being 
developed throughout the area. Community labor is 
compensated through food aid provided by WFP through 
SPIR. 
In response to recurrent flooding, one community was 
constructing a causeway across a low, swampy area 
that periodically floods, cutting off their fields 
from access to the main rood and market. Upon 
completion, this causeway should serve to keep 
access open during most normal periods of seasonal 
flooding. The team was impressed with the extent 
and quality of the construction and the high degree 
of participation of women in the project. Another 
FFW project involved the reconstruction of the 
central town market, destroyed during the 2000 
floods. The market is being reconstructed on an 
elevated foundation that will enable it to remain 
open during occasional periods of local seasonal 
flooding. 
Poor water quality is an ongoing problem in the 
region visited, and particularly acute in a period 
of greatly diminished uncontaminated sources from 
which to draw, with many people obtaining their 
water from unprotected wells and rivers. In 
response to this immediate problem, SPIR is 
producing and promoting an innovative, low-cost and 
highly effective bio-sand filtration system designed 
for home use. The team visited the fabrication 
facility and was briefed on the design and operation 
of the system and visited a home where the system 
was in use. The system is low-cost and can be 
maintained by the household, and eliminates most of 
the common contaminants found in surface water. The 
team felt that this low-cost, high-impact system 
warranted further study to determine potential for 
propagation/dissemination and its possible use in 
other emergency programs. 
As water for both consumption and agriculture has 
proven to be a critical immediate problem for rural 
families affected by this drought in Mozambique, 
several NGO partners (World Vision, CARE, SPIR, and 
Save the Children) are developing plans and seeking 
funding for a variety of water interventions, 
including the repair of broken borehole pumps, 
improvement of shallow wells, small-scale irrigation 
systems. These interventions, if undertaken, will 
provide essential potable water that complements 
food distribution, alleviates the current threat of 
water-borne intestinal diseases - particularly to 
young children, and serves to mitigate the impact of 
future droughts and improve food security and health 
status in the affected communities. 
Conclusions 
The OFDA team generally felt that the current 
drought situation, while significant, was under 
control and being managed well by a combination of 
GOM, UN, NGO, and donor resources. The food aid 
program is having significant impact in maintaining 
the health and nutritional status of drought- 
affected communities. USAID/Mozambique, related UN 
agencies and involved NGOs in the field argue that 
more can and should be done to alleviate suffering, 
with particular mention of water needs. The current 
2003/04 crop season requires ongoing monitoring, as 
rains during the first half of the season (October - 
December) have been late and insufficient. Crop 
stress was observed during the visit, and should the 
rains continue to be erratic, insufficient, and 
poorly timed, it is likely that crop production, 
especially maize, will be significantly reduced. 
USAID/Mozambique and OFDA Southern Africa Regional 
Office will monitor of effectiveness of coping 
strategies and current relief activities. A further 
assessment of the situation will be necessary if the 
2003/04 season is negatively impacted. The sparse 
rainfall pattern seen thus far in the growing season 
is extremely worrisome for several districts that 
have suffered through complete crop losses for the 
past three or four years. Further humanitarian 
assistance - including the need for non-food aid -- 
is probable unless the drought breaks in the next 
few weeks. 
HANKINS